Case Study

Brand Background

Our client is a regional pharma chain with locations in Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario. However, in spite of their strong market presence, their email marketing program was limited to standard flyers.

The Challenge

With only one mass-produced flyer distributed each week, the drug store chain was missing the opportunity to be more relevant to their customers.

Although their internal IT department could access data through their loyalty program partner, actionable insights were also needed. The retailer was capturing information such as email addresses and transactions, however it wasn’t being leveraged for marketing communications.

The Solution

Strategic analysis was the first step which pointed to providing segmented communications as the solution. We determined that we could provide a truly personalized e-flyer based on their customers’ purchase patterns.

As with many of our clients, mining data from the loyalty program partner can gather valuable insights to create a more personalized marketing program.

The how

1 Strategic analysis

This lead to mapping a road to personalization. The goal was to move from mass communication to segmented communication. This entailed six different versions of the newsletter with variables based on purchase patterns.

2 Implementation of real one-to-one communications

Meant that an e-flyer with over 250 products featured each week could also include key products that would be targeted to the subscriber.

If data showed that a customer had a young baby, key products such as diapers, creams or infant formula would appear in their customized flyer.

3 Predictable purchasing habits

Helped determine which of the 250 weekly products to feature. Each one was ranked on a pattern of priorities, interests and even preferred brand. By feeding data back into the e-marketing system using a 1:1 predictive model, we stimulated repurchase through custom loyalty offers.

We went from mass communication to segmented communication to one-to-one communication using predictable customer behaviour in 6 MONTHS.

4 Customer engagement

Improved through more relevant editorial content that was integrated into the newsletter.

If a customer was more interested in health and beauty, content would be served up on those topics. By reinforcing value and expertise to their customers, the pharma chain could gain higher levels of trust.

Results and Insights

With our approach, the email marketing program deployment and system technology could track customer engagement more effectively. We were at full performance within 6 months. Sales lift and ROI could be precisely measured on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis.

The set up of our system allowed us to mine the transactions and data – daily if required. This allowed us to provide more relevant offers and content quickly.

As with many of our clients who follow our personalization roadmap, we can typically expect a sales lift of 5% to 10%. Here, the results were even more outstanding. By moving to one-to-one personalization, it increased sales between 8% to 11%. And when we added loyalty offers, sales moved another 4% to 6%. The overall sales lift was as much as 15%.